European Union Institutions Under Attack

The European Commission has confirmed that computer systems at two European Union institutions are currently under attack, according to v3.co.uk. It is believed hackers are looking to disrupt talks on the situation in Libya. The commission says "urgent measures" are being taken to protect both institutions.

There is no information about the scale of the attacks or what is being done to counter them. The commission has also refused to discuss from where the attacks are originating. A spokesperson says:

As this is a security issue, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage. We are not going to speculate on the source of the attack at this stage -- in any event, identifying the origin of such attacks is always extremely difficult.

Although the commission is hesitant to place responsibility for the attacks on any one party, Trend Micro's Rik Ferguson believes the incidents are eerily similar to a recent assault on the French government that may have been carried out by China.